The Spirit Walker (BOOK ONE): The Ripple

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Warmth

My teeth won't stop chattering.

I do not remember much about the moments after I was ripped from the pool. I'm not sure how Elder Diyani managed to pull me up the stairs. I remember being numb. I remember stumbling into the castle corridor, dripping and shivering. I remember Ness and Maise frantically pulling off my sodden clothes, and Ness stripping to her underwear, wrapping me in her firm arms, and Maise tucking the covers of my bed around us both.

"Uku," I hear Elder Diyani say, somewhere outside of our cocoon. My forehead is pressed into the crook of Ness's neck, one of her thighs sandwiched between both of mine, her arms wrapped firmly around my shoulders.

"What were you thinking?" I hear Calum hiss in a voice that is not Calum's, low and angry and dangerous.

"It is not for the likes of a man to question the Kituwah rites."

There is a low, deep growl- an animal sound.

"Move," Calum's voice comes, closer this time. Ness's throat vibrates beneath my ear.

"Not a good idea, Calum. She's..."

I hear a series of cracks and pops, and Ness chuckles lowly. "Well, that's one way to do it."

I whimper when her warmth is lost to me, and the covers are lifted off of my naked body. My teeth clack so hard I'm surprised they don't crack, and I curl into the fetal position and wrap my arms around myself as tightly as I can.

The bed dips, and I startle when an animal settles beside me.

"Ness... where did this dog come from?"

Ness laughs, loudly, and the dog snorts and tosses its head. It's covered with thick, black fur, and is even warmer than Ness had been against me. It makes a deep, rumbling noise, and I decide I don't quite mind that it is in my bed.

I gently scratch behind its ear. "Who's a good fella?" I murmur through chattering teeth, and Ness chokes.

The dog picks up its head, and levels a very human looking glare at the warrior woman.

"First off, he's a wolf, not a dog," Ness snorts, and then laughs again. "And second- that 'good fella' is Calum."

I stiffen, and the dog- wolf- Calum- nudges my cheek with his wet nose.

"What the fuck?"

Ness laughs again. "The two of you can't exactly be trusted with each other when you're both human, but apparently, he wanted to be the one to warm you up." She pauses, and then snickers. "That, or he was just pissed that I got to see you naked before he did."

Calum's wolf skin growls, but it doesn't sound dangerous. Rather, it only seems to indicate mild annoyance.

He leans over, resting his great head over my shoulder in a strange, near-embrace. Ness carefully tucks the blanket around Calum's wolf skin and I, and then steps back. My shuddering and shivering gradually subsides, and I feel warm for the first time since the cavern.

"I'll be right outside," Ness excuses herself, and I can't quite decide if it's a warning or not.

"This is so weird," I murmur, and Calum's wolf-skin humphs. "It's like something out of Twilight." There's another humph, but I sense there's a question in it somewhere. "Not the time of day- it's this cheesy romance series for teenagers where a girl's in a love triangle with a werewolf and a vampire."